Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2022 Thread (Often African bands)

Isokratisses free on October 13 from 6 to 7 @ Kennedy Center Millennium Stage ( vocal ensemble of eight women who carry the ancient tradition of polyphonic songs from Epirus—a region in northern Greece and southern Albania)

Their approach sounds cool to me in small doses, then I get bored. Their gig tonight can be seen on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage youtube page and maybe Facebook too

Of some of the groups who were in Chicago at that fest there, I intend to check out Kaleta & Super Yamba Band , who have played in DC as well

La Dame Blanche (Cuba by way of France) pairs her fierce rhymes and dramatic flute with colossal beats from across the African diaspora; Paolo Angeli (Italy) turns his cleverly modified Sardinian guitar into a percussion engine; Gili Yalo (Ethiopia by way of Israel) honors the jazzy, funky grooves that his homeland made immortal in the 60s and 70s; and Kaleta & Super Yamba Band (Benin and Nigeria by way of New York City) fuse Afrobeat and juju for a driving, danceable sound that’s as cheerful as it is aggressive.

I wonder if there are any young Congolese musicians playing rumba/soukous ? Similarly are there young Senegalese mbalax musicians? And are veterans in these genres doing anything interesting still?

What genres did everyone start getting into this year? For me the big ones were pagode romântico (Brazil), campus folk (Taiwan), cumbia villera (Argentina), and I also had a blast finally listening through as much as I could from Lance Scott Walker's "Houston Rap Tapes" book.

— Joshua Minsoo Kim (@misterminsoo) October 25, 2022

Looking fwd to this---so far, most of my favorite tracks are on their early albs:

Last month, Touareg collective Tinariwen announced the reissue of Kel Tinariwen, marking the project's first-ever official release since it appeared in 1992 locally in Mali on cassette, out November 4th via Wedge. Kel Tinariwen will see release alongside two additional Tinariwen reissues, Aman Iman: Water Is Life and Imidiwan: Companion, out for the first time on vinyl the same day via Craft Recordings. Today, the group is thrilled to share Kel Tinariwen’s opening track, “À L’Histoire,” following lead single “Arghane Manin.” There’s a waltzing, whimsical edge to “À L’Histoire,” as voices call back to each other over springy percussion and guitar.

A revelatory discovery in the Tinariwen archives, Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band's already rich history. Not having yet developed the fuller band sound that they became internationally established with, Kel Tinariwen features their trademark hypnotic guitar lines and call-and-response vocals weaving in between raw drum machine rhythms and keyboard melodies that almost evoke an Arabic take on 80s synth-pop. Alongside this record, Tinariwen are also reissuing Aman Iman and Imidiwan: Companions - their third and fourth studio albums respectively. A blend of West African traditional music and electrified rock’n’roll – a sound that critics have called “desert blues”.

Aman Iman: Water Is Life was Tinariwen’s third studio album, originally released in 2007, and recorded in Mali’s capital, Bamako. Produced by Justin Adams (Robert Plant’s guitarist and producer of the Tinariwen’s debut album The Radio Tisdas Sessions), and recording engineer Ben Findlay. The whole Tinariwen story breathes through its twelve songs, beginning with the first Touareg rebellion of 1963, which lies at the root of so much pain and trauma in the Malian Touareg mindset and which is vividly recalled by Ibrahim in his brooding song ‘Soixante Trois’.

Imidiwan: Companions was the band's fourth album, and it possesses all the elements that have made them so alluring; raw simplicity, melodic beauty, songs ranging from the epic and universal to the intimate and personal. The 13-track album, produced by Jean-Paul Romann, was recorded in Tessalit, the Malian desert village home of band members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib & Hassan Ag Touhami.

Kel Tinariwen Tracklist:
1. À L'Histoire
2. Khedou Khedou
3. Adounia Tarha
4. Matadjem Yinmexan
5. Awa Idjan War Infa Iman
6. Sendad Eghlalan
7. Sendad Eghlalan
8. Arghane Manine

Aman Iman: Water Is Life Tracklist:
1. Cler Achel
2. Mano Dayak
3. Matadjem Yinmixan
4. Ahimana
5. Soixante Trois
6. Toumast
7. Imidiwan WinakaliN
8. Awa Didjen
9. Ikyadarh Dim
10. Tamatant Tilay
11. Assouf
12. Izarharh Tenere

Imidiwan: Companions Tracklist:
1. Imidiwan Afrik Tendam
2. Lulla
3. Tenhert
4. Enseqi Ehad Didagh
5. Tahult In
6. Tamodjerazt Assis
7. Intitlayaghen
8. Imazighen N Adagh
9. Tenalle Chegret
10. Kel Tamashek
11. Assuf Ag Assuf
12. Chabiba
13. Ere Tasfata Adounia

https://www.tinariwen.com/
For more information, contact:
Sam McAllister | Pitch Perfect PR - sam at pitchperfectpr dot com

That old Tinariwen stuff does look like its worth checking out

https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/01/22/beneath-the-rhythm-congolese-rumba-is-a-link-to-the-past?utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=17210591673&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-response.anonymous&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuem45dOA-wIVfsmUCR0AZAgqEAMYASAAEgLNJPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

paywalled and I don't have access to this Economist mag article on Congolese rumba and politics

https://therumbakings.com/

Rumba Kings doc on Congo music still at festivals worldwide

Did any New Yorkers here catch any of these October 2022 events?

http://congoinharlem.org/lineup2022

Lagos, Abidjan, and more

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/27/megalopolis-how-coastal-west-africa-will-shape-the-coming-century

x-post- Some of the films about Congo musicians, art, etc on the Congo in Harlem link are streaming through October 31 . Rumba Kings, a Congolese rap one and more

Speaking of Congo musicians

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1370979743_16.jpg

ALBUM OF THE DAY
Lady Aicha & Pisko Crane’s Original Fulu Miziki of Kinshasa, “N’Djila Wa Mudujimu”
By James Gui · October 25, 2022

yes, it sounded very good on first encounter. Chris L mentioned it on the 2022 AOTY So Far thread and I forgot to otm them.

(otm them for it being a vg album - way too early for me to make any aoty announcements)

I liked it a lot; I was already in a mood to trust the label because they put out the Phelimuncasi album, which is definitely an AOTY candidate for me. I can definitely tell they're using home-built electronics, junk percussion, and even some power drills and stuff (like a West African Einstürzende Neubauten). This video really lets you see what they do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri2oK4gApMU

Nyege Nyege doesn’t put out bad stuff afaic— it’s all interesting if not really great. Their companion label, Hakuna Kulala, does more dance oriented stuff, and is also excellent

do we not have a Nyege Nyege thread? I could've sworn dog latin started one

Maybe .

For those interested in the history of Congolese music (that laid the groundwork for the experimental methods of the musicians on Nyege Nyege), the documentary Rumba Kings that I mentioned above is definitely worth seeing. It's available just through Monday for free. It covers the roots of Congolese rumba and covers the period of 1940 through 1980, with a focus on musicians Grand Kalle, Dr Nico, and Franco with lots of old footage mixed in with newer interviews with musicians from the bands as well as African music historians. It also covers the ugly colonialist history , the segregation, and the exploitation. The doc shows shows how a small but star-filled Congolese Orchestra flew to Belgium in 1960 the night when Congolese and Belgians were negotiating independence there, and how the music helped the transition to independence. Someone in the film says about the Grand Kalle and African Jazz song "Independence Cha Cha " that it even made the colonizer dance.

that twitter thread on genres you got into this year had some interesting recommendations, was not familiar with freebeat / cruise but it's nice:
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/nigerian-cruise-freebeat-feature

Yep, didn’t know that Nigerian one either

I should pay a lot more attention to this thread.

Few things I've been enjoying:

CRRDR - DAMNBOW
I don't understand this but I love it. Dembow and Reggaeton tunes sped up and gabba'd-up

Anti-General
If you liked that Birdy Island by Howie Lee, check this out

xpost

McQuaid points to the success of the track “Zazoo Zehh” by Portable—which features established singer/rapper Olamide, and which is now approaching 10 million streams—as a sign that vocalists are becoming more willing to jump on the uptempo beats, bringing the music further into Nigeria’s mainstream.

this song was the first post on rolling afropop this year! not that I claim to know much about the genre in general

Cool.

http://davidbyrne.com/radio/the-heart-of-arabia

David Byrne list of songs in Arabic, Farsi, & some African languages that he is listening to now. Says most are within last 10 years.

if you’re going to include artists from places like Senegal, Iran, Pakistan and… the Netherlands (by way of Iran), why call your playlist From the Heart of Arabia for crying out loud? given his age and experience Byrne *really* should know better than that

The Heart of Arabia, sorry. but this kind of stuff just pisses me off

https://ethiopianstoday.com/2022/11/06/legendary-ethiopian-artist-ali-birra-passed-away/

RIP Ali Birra, Ethiopian Oromo vocalist. Ethiopian twitter and Facebook and elsewhere is seriously mourning his passing

Ali Birra was on an Ethiopiques comp and last year was on a duet song that got attention from younger Folks who listen to Ethiopian music

On the heels of his already critically acclaimed (yes, already!) forthcoming retrospective, World Spirituality Classics 3: The Muslim Highlife of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah, Alhaji Waziri Oshomah — the Oyoyo King, the Godfather of Afemai Music, the Etsako Super Star, Mr. Please Please Please, Mr. Dynamite — returns with his complete Volume Series, compiled for the first time in a 5 LP box set.

Waziri hails from a small part of Edo State in southern Nigeria called Afemailand, known for being a harmonious region where Muslims and Christians live — and dance — together. And there, as a devout Muslim and an exemplar of religious piety, Waziri fuses Etsako/Afemai folk styles with pan-Nigerian highlife and pop to create a sublime vehicle for his Islamic philosophy that gets everyone — Muslims, Christians, whoever — on the dancefloor.

This 5 LP set, Vol. 1-5 (1978-1984), focuses on Waziri’s illustrious mid-career output — the music he created during the years leading up to and after he performed his first hajj (you might recognize some of the hits from The Muslim Highlife) — and includes a copy of The Journey So Far, a limited-edition book written and designed by his children, to celebrate Waziri’s remarkable life and career.

lots of streaming etc. options here:
https://linktr.ee/luakabop

New Wau Wau Collectif: https://wauwaucollectif.bandcamp.com/album/mariage

Not quite as mesmerising as Yaral Sa Doom (so far anyway) but it's good!

ha I had the exact same reaction. It is very good though, just not quite as magical, possibly because now I know what to expect

Another quality Natalia Lafourcade release (De todas las flores). It's not fully out of the demonstrative homage territory (which she was acing tbh), it's probably a little bit too impeccably in place, the backing band is definitely very comfortable behind a singer so in command, but she's so good at it. And it's closer to a songwriter album, with plenty of latin jazz arrangements and more thrown in.

I like Natalia Lafourcade a lot, but the presence of Marc Ribot on guitar is about the only thing keeping me awake. It's just so...gentle. It doesn't get revved up until about 3/4 of the way in.

Thanks for heads up on Lafourcade latest.

I am listening to the more pop 2022 effort by Jorge Drexler who with his band impressed me last Friday night in Washington DC. Uruguayan born, and living in Spain for over 2 decades, he has some lilting melodies that sound Brazilian, folky pop numbers with various Latin influences, and some polyrhythmic cuts with dashes of Brazil, Spain, rock en espanol from Mexico, & Talking Heads .

only learning of Lafourcade today

world sure is full of music

ty curmudgeon for alerting me to the new Jorge Drexler, very excited to check it out

Just read that Jorge Drexler was on a song with Gal Costa on her final album before she passed

Drexler won song of the year at Latin Grammys for “Tocarte”.

Saw Oumou Sangare on a best of 2022 list

So much to listen to , so little time

Caramanica NY Times list has Nigerian Asake and Pareles list of additional top albums has Malian Rokia Kone ( w/ Jackknife Lee) And Jorge Drexler

Brad Luen (stumbled on a retweet of his) posting on various intenational things he is listening to including South African

https://bradluen.substack.com/p/odds-and-ends-125?r=2ck1y&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

not sure Etran de L'Aïr have been mentioned here? found on ted gioia's honourable mentions, very nice on first listen

https://etrandelair.bandcamp.com/album/agadez

I feel like they were once mentioned but maybe in a prior year. I recall liking Etran de L'air

Etran de L’air and Oumou Sangare are both on Ted Gioia list of 50 other albums he liked ( that didn’t make his top list that will be on his paywalled part of his substack)

Brad Luen just wrote about Montparnasse Musique album “Archaeology “
MM are the French-Algerian Nadjib Ben Bella and South Africa’s Aero Manyelo, and are a DJ/production duo who met in Paris. They like Konono #1 style Congolese music and South African club stuff too.

Montparnasse Musique didn't wow me on first listen, but its clubby approach to melding various African genres may grow on me.

https://www.theafricareport.com/265333/why-kenyans-are-not-listening-to-their-own-music-and-the-eric-omondi-factor/

Some random article I saw on twitter

Aboogi by Imarhan is very nice, not a lot of fire but full of nuance and gripping in its own contemplative way. Well produced without being polished.

Yes to Imharhan too